WEAVING THE CONNECTIONS

Fourteen summers ago The Center for Women, the Earth, the Divine (C:WED) published its first issue of “Weaving the Connections.” I do not think that we self-consciously chose the metaphor of “weaving” at that time, yet as I reflect on it now, I believe that it was/is a very appropriate symbol. Over the years, the Divine has served as the loom (the frame, the matrix) for our writing and publishing, Earth has functioned as the warp or primary thread, women as the woof or secondary thread that holds it all together, while we at C:WED have been the shuttle that works with the Divine to form the new creation.

In 1994 we stated in our brochure our understanding that “the forces that are now bringing the Earth to destruction are the same forces that are responsible for the global oppression of women.” Furthermore, we found in the major world religions a validated basis for this oppression—an oppression that grows out of a patriarchal world view. This perspective sees certain members of the male ruling class as normative and the rest of creation as derivative and other. Therefore, we were led to conclude that the healing of creation—the ultimate goal of C:WED—could only be accomplished if there were a change in the world view. With such a shift, the human would no longer be regarded as above and apart from the rest of creation, but would take her/his rightful place as a member of the Earth Community. My understanding of the problem, as we stated it in 1994, has not shifted because, if anything, rather than mitigating over the years, it has become even more intense. However,

I think what is needed today is not simply a restatement of the problem but a solution that celebrates the Divine, the Earth and Women—a solution that redefines and respects the Feminine.

C:WED first publicly “wove the connections” at an event held on January 18, 1992. At its conclusion, we asked the women to respond to the day through a word or phrase that would sum up their experience and to “weave for us a garment of brightness.” These are a few of the responses:

“My connection with the earth and divine began in my grandfather’s garden. Now they with the feminine come together.”

“The earth hurts. Our mother is in pain. She asks that we revive the respect for her that is innate in all of us. This respect has been bastardized with time. She asks that we work at becoming pure. She asks that we Try!”

“JOY! (For me – Words are the wrong medium. I need paints! or music to dance to life!)”

“Countless times I have felt such connections - when I look at the sky or the trees - when my cat looks into my eyes and we seem to understand each other - when a plant blooms quite unexpectedly - when the birds whisper in the bushes where I put out food & unfrozen water - when the cardinal widow comes in the afternoon to eat & visit our yard.”

Our task now appears to be to use these responses, and others, in helping us to redefine the Feminine as we move even deeper into this crisis time of our Earth’s history.

The other day I saw a movie and was misled by the title and the attribute “especially valuable,” as advertised in the paper. The title, “No Country for Old Men,” echoing the opening line of a celebrated poem by W. B. Yeats (Sailingto Byzantium), seemed to promise wise reflections on life and art, old age and eternity.

I usually skip film reviews because I find them generally unreliable; it escaped my attention that the script was based on a book by Cormack McCarthy, No Country for Old Men. I have not read the book, but I did read The Road by the same author, Pulitzer Prize winner of 2007, and it is a harrowing vision of global destruction after a nuclear holocaust.

Now, it is one thing to read about such horrors, to have a powerful writer evoke images of evil in one’s mind, but quite another to see them on the screen. I admired The Road and was deeply stirred by its apocalyptic vision, but if a movie were made of it, I would not go to see it.

No Country for Old Men is a story of violence. A pathological killer, the incarnation of Evil, is shown to shoot dozens of people in cold blood, literally at the flip of a coin. It is understood that while this fiend (who sports an Eastern European name, suggestive of the “Realm of Evil” as identified by some U.S. presidents) is a lunatic, nobody and nothing can stop him from wreaking havoc. The spectator is not spared any of the gory details—the senseless cruelty or the agonizing suspense before the victims are brought down. These are filmed against a background of drug trafficking and obvious greediness for money. There are other gangsters—a mafia boss in stylish suits, Mexican smugglers, baffled and ineffectual sheriffs. The few women in the plot are only marginal figures—helpless victims. They are not in on the game as it is a man’s world of crime and greed. This is, then, what we as viewers are left with—no relief, no hope that evil will eventually be brought to justice.

The film, however, is skillfully constructed and the acting is excellent. But do we really need such films, regardless of how sophisticated they are? The images of violence still haunt me. I am writing this article partly to get them out of my mind.

We know that violence exists, every kind of it, and in its orbit, the values of life are annihilated. Common decency, trust, love, truthfulness—often considered “feminine values”—are put down, expropriated. In this setting they lose all meaning. The fallacy is to think that aesthetic excellence—a film or any other work of art— in itself justifies the proliferation of images of violence. Is there ever any thought given to the ultimate effect on those millions who view such stories on television or in a movie theater? We know the effect they can have on youngsters who habitually watch action thrillers and worse—on TV and other various forms of electronic media. Images are not harmless. They are not consumed with impunity, but have a way of worming themselves into the emotions and feelings. They color the way we look at the world and human nature. They may become obsessive to such an extent that the drive and our best intention to affirm what is good and hopeful in the world are numbed.

Why give in to the fascination with evil? We know it is there. We know that no law or punitive legal system will put an end to the atrocities committed by human beings. It can end only with the people who inhabit the world—us—and it is only possible if we stay clear of mental and emotional pollution and maintain our vision of an alternative world.

I refuse to be sucked into an imaginary universe where women are but pawns in the dirty games of men—the macho world, the “old paradigm.” We want to build the new, and as we all know, we have to start with our own consciousness. It is where we have to make peace first. We have to monitor what images we allow to take possession of us. We should not condone, much less applaud, violence in the name of art. This may not be a politically correct point of view. L’art pour l’art is defended as a sacred principle. Once a cry for liberty and independence of mind, it has become, however, a license to extol destructiveness and every kind of evil, with no regard to the damage done to the human imagination.

It seems to me that the greatest works of art, no matter how much evil they expose, have always affirmed the potential of good. There is no creation without the driving force of love, the ultimate good. It needs to be nourished in our minds and also by the entertainments and pastimes we choose.

The Center for Women, the Earth, the Divine is dedicated to exploring the parallels that exist between the imaging and treatment of women and of the Earth, and how our images of the Divine are related to these parallels.

We began by exploring these relationships within the context of our own tradition— the Christian. While we continue our exploration in this tradition, we have also engaged people of other traditions such as the Buddhist, Goddess, Hindu, Indigenous, Jewish and Muslim. Our work is made available through talks, workshops, writings and retreats. The immediate purpose of the Center is educational, while the ultimate goal is the healing of the Creation.

The founder of C:WED is Eleanor Rae, Ph.D., author of Women, the Earth, the Divine, President Emerita of the Network Alliance of Congregations Caring for Earth and founder of the Earth Values Caucus at the United Nations.

How did Abraham know that it was God that bid him offer his son,being a breach of the sixth commandment?

You questioned authority, not content

to allow politics or religion

to deter you from your natural grace.

A simple question, asked through the ages,

brought you exile for using your mind.

A mind contemplating freedom of thought

could not comprehend a sly God who thought

to ask a spent father to be content

to sacrifice his son. What holy mind

could conjure, in the name of religion,

such a diabolical plot? Ages

ago you cried out this could not be grace!

You preached, in your home, to women that grace

brought salvation, not the Puritan thought

that was popular in the stark ages

of a new colony: just the content

of a single soul, the true religion,

not the ministers controlling your mind.

No lawyer at your side, you did not mind

mounting your own defense. With simple grace

you explained your ideas on religion:

equality for all people, you thought,

would make the whole world, even God, content.

And, slaves and Indians, in the ages

to come would be blessed after their ages

of misfortune. The clergy set their mind,

government officials agreed, content

to banish you, with all your charm and grace,

from Massachusetts Bay. Without a thought,

spouse and children by your side, religion

in your heart, where you knew a religion

should be, you settled in New York. Ages

hence a river there bears your name. This thought,

I am sure, would never have crossed your mind.

It flows with your own majesty and grace,

a river of blessing from you, content.

This land, now, its content of religion

and ethnic mixes, glows grace. All ages

bearing in mind your forward thinking thought.

(Poetry type: A sestina)

Dianalee Velie, author of three books of poetry—Glass House, First Edition, and The Many Roads to Paradise—has taught poetry, memoir, and short story writing at universities and colleges in New York, Connecticut and New Hampshire and in private workshops throughout the Northeast. She is president of the Velie Memorial Fund, Inc., a not-for-profit organization dedicated to building a playground in Newbury, NH in memory of her daughter-in-law and children who were murdered in their home in Coconut Grove, Florida. Dianalee is available for readings and may be contacted at dianaleevelie@aol.com; PO Box 290, Newbury, NH 03255; (603) 763-8863